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Ford hasn't earned a pretax profit in Europe since 2010, and it lost $1.6 billion in the region last year, but Ford Europe president Stephen Odell said three plant closures and more than a dozen new products are helping reverse that.

Steelmakers have called for new import penalties and have filed the highest number of trade complaints in more than a decade. According to the U.S. Trade Representative, there are 40 anti-dumping and injury cases pending on steel products.

Old truck tires are transformed into rubber washers and bushings for cars and rice mills. Machine parts, buckets and flip-flops — the most popular footwear in the rural areas — are among the biggest sellers for tire recyclers.

Lou pointed out that the U.S. economy shrank at a 2.9 percent annual rate from January to March — largely because of a brutal winter — and said China hopes the U.S. "can take measures to ensure the momentum of growth."

China and the United States took small steps toward their shared goal of fighting climate change, but the world's No. 1 and No. 2 carbon emitters remain significantly apart over a wider global plan to cut emissions.

Growth was strongest in Europe, up over 60 percent, with Asia Pacific sales up almost 40 percent, the company said in a statement. Middle East sales were also strong, up 30 percent, with the United States and China also seeing double-digit growth.

Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have entered into an agreement with a water firm in the United Arab Emirates to acquire a 38.4 percent share in its water and wastewater projects.

An appeals body of the World Trade Organization has decided it lacked enough information to uphold China's objections to a U.S. law meant to help American companies that face unfair foreign competition.

Dozens of neuroscientists are protesting Europe's $1.6 billion attempt to recreate the functioning of the human brain on supercomputers, fearing it will waste vast amounts of money and harm neuroscience in general.

Australia's experience illustrates how easy it is to scuttle complicated environmental laws, and serves as a warning to President Barack Obama, whose recent proposal to force a 30 percent cut in power plants' carbon emissions is drawing anger from both sides of politics.